Save a Failed Idol's Life

Chapter 189:

But the trainee who ranked first had a rather calm expression. He even smiled as if he had been waiting for this.

The MC asked them to move to their seats according to their ranks. The trainee who had been sitting in the first since the grade evaluation started turned red as a tomato.

‘What the hell are they doing?’

Several cameras moved busily to capture the faces of the participants who were burning with embarrassment.

Was this fun? They let them sit in the order of their desired ranks, and then they said there was a real rank, and they changed it like flipping their palms.

Who would like this kind of thing?

Their shallow intentions were obvious. The fans who cheered for the trainees who went up would feel relieved, and the fans who cheered for the trainees who went down would unite to prevent their trainees from going through this humiliation again.

They would try to gather votes and raise their ranks in the second re-evaluation, which was determined by voting.

‘Sigh…’

This was the right thing to do to squeeze out the maximum profit from the program. But there was one very important prerequisite for that decision.

They had to see people as business tools, not as human beings.

They were selling products that could hurt and frustrate anyone in the process.

‘…’

My mouth tasted bitter. The atmosphere was dampened by the feeling of helplessness, but I tried to cheer up and talk to Yu-geon again.

“Hey.”

He finally came to his senses when I drew his attention again.

“Oh, oh… I guess I’m over there.”

Yu-geon pointed to a staff member holding an F sign and answered.

“They said we’ll eat and then shoot the introduction videos individually, right?”

“Yes, see you later.”

I nodded and exchanged dry greetings with Yu-geon and parted ways. Then I felt the piercing gazes around me.

There were only nine people who received A grade among these many people.

Many young friends looked at me with faces mixed with envy, admiration, and rivalry.

The heart card mark on their name tags seemed to mock me, saying ‘Do you care?’

[Remaining attempts: 1]

‘I know.’

I ignored the status window that popped up and headed to the A grade escort staff.

Most of the A grades (only nine, though) were already gathered.

“We’ll move to the restaurant as soon as everyone is here.”

I wondered if they discriminated even by grade, but these stingy organizers didn’t stop there.

When the A grades ate the top-notch catering buffet, the B and C grades were provided with a decent level of meal, the D grades were given diet lunch boxes, and the F grades were only given basic food ingredients at the level of a boarding house.

It wasn’t like they just gave them rice and kimchi. They provided eggs and basic seasonings, sauces, and ingredients, but they had to cook and eat them themselves.

How could the 1020 boys who had lived on the food that others had made for them all their lives cook and fill their stomachs by themselves?

It was a hard story to believe. The best dish they could make was ramen, so kimchi and curry were the most luxurious meal they could eat. Even that ran out after about 10 people ate, and the rest was just fried eggs and kimchi.

‘This makes me feel bad for eating the lavish buffet.’

I didn’t know what their intention was, but it was very vicious to install observation cameras in each restaurant and let them watch what other grades were eating in real time on a large screen.

To the higher-ranked trainees, it meant ‘keep your rank if you don’t want to eat like that’, and to the lower-ranked ones, it showed that they would get ‘that kind of’ treatment if they raised their rank.

It was petty to discriminate against the kids based on what the adults ate.

“Ah, this is really delicious.”

“Wow, meat, meat.”

Among the current A-ranked trainees, only three of them, including Naru, had made it to the debut of Floss.

Naru kept glancing at me as if he was conscious of Seong-won, but it didn’t seem like he was particularly interested in me.

‘It feels like he considers anyone who has a better vocal than him as a potential rival for the main vocal position.’

It would have been better if Hwijin was in A-rank too.

Unfortunately, Hwijin stayed in B-rank.

I was not very happy with the feast in front of me, as I was troubled by the thoughts of the rank evaluation.

The food tasted good when I forced it into my mouth, but that only made me feel more guilty.

“I enjoyed the meal.”

Naru, who ate as much as a bird, put down his spoon first, followed by the rest of the trainees who finished their short meals and went back to the waiting room.

The remaining afternoon schedule was the profile video shooting and the first opening stage rehearsal.

‘Profile video shooting, huh…’ It must be the 30-second appeal video that was uploaded on the My Idol Stage channel short.

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The video titled 30-second Speed Attack was about the participants showing their charms in a short time before the broadcast.

Some sang, some danced, and some even pulled off a prank out of nowhere.

There were also many participants who simply introduced themselves.

‘What should I say?’

As everyone said, there was no need to beg the viewers to vote for me, since the first re-evaluation did not involve viewer voting.

‘I’ll just do a simple… self-introduction.’

I nodded and followed the staff to the waiting room.

I didn’t think the meal time was long, but when I went down, all the remaining trainees were waiting for the A-ranks to come down.

As soon as the nine A-ranks came down to the waiting room, they were met with eyes that seemed to say ‘those bastards ate that expensive and delicious food.’

The gazes were more than just envious, they were slightly stinging.

Contrary to me, who was suffering from a faint guilt, the other A-rank trainees, including Naru, were calm as if the jealous eyes were natural.

Rather, there was someone who gave me a word of advice.

“Why are you so nervous? We have to be confident so that the camera will catch us more.”

In other words, he meant don’t stand around with a hesitant expression near him.

“Ah. Yes.”

I nodded and quietly moved to the back.

“Sigh…”

Unlike my worry that they would make us sit by rank in the waiting room, the appeal video shooting was in the same order as the audition number I saw yesterday.

Then I could sit next to him. I quietly left the A-rank line and headed to where the F-ranks were gathered. As soon as I did, the eyes were focused on me.

They looked like they were asking why I came here.

Why indeed. I snorted inwardly and sat next to Kang Yu-geon.

“Did you enjoy the meal?”

I felt disgusted, but I had to eat anyway… The more I felt annoyed and bitter, the more I needed to fill my stomach.

That way, I could muster some energy and show them what I was made of.

As I finally spoke up, Yu-geon, who seemed lost in his thoughts, snapped out of it.

“Huh? Uh…”

He looked like he hadn’t eaten properly. He had a shameless face that looked like he had five layers of iron plates on it, but now he looked deflated and miserable. It felt strange to see him like that.

The guy I knew was a snake who could spout miraculous logic that he was fine even if he was late because he could cover it up perfectly.

And now he was cowering and wilted because of one grade.

It didn’t suit him at all. His flashy appearance suited a more confident and brazen face.

I tried to lighten the mood and asked him.

“Did you… make an enemy out of the PD or something?”

It was half a joke, but it seemed like I hit the nail on the head. Yu-geon’s face turned pale in an instant.

“…?”

I raised my eyebrows at his unexpected reaction, and Yu-geon hurried to explain.

“It’s not that.”

But when I pressed him further, his face darkened and he couldn’t say a word.

‘What’s with this suffocating atmosphere?’

I wondered if I had come for nothing, but I didn’t want to leave him alone and go to the A-grade side either. It would bother me just as much.

As we waited in silence, it was soon Yu-geon’s turn.

“I’ll be back.”

“Okay.”

I didn’t say anything to cheer him up. It wouldn’t help much anyway, and I didn’t want to sound like I was rubbing salt in his wound.

Soon, Yu-geon came back from the shooting, which ended faster than I thought, and the long wait in silence began.

‘This is so frustrating.’

It was supposed to be quick and easy, taking only about five minutes per person, but there were so many people that it would take eight hours even then.

Fortunately, some really fast people went into the shooting booth and came out in less than two minutes, and there were about three shooting booths, so the number of people was decreasing faster than expected.

But still, it was a three-hour ordeal, and after waiting for about an hour, I yawned.

‘When is it my turn?’

I kept my mouth shut next to Yu-geon, who was staring at the floor without a word, and my body felt restless.

Then, a familiar name was called.

“Lee Hwijin, please move to booth A.”

Oh.

Hwijin, who had a B-grade mark on his chest, walked briskly to the studio with big strides.

‘He was B-grade, right.’

His rank was closer to A-grade than C-grade. He was 13th.

I had a higher grade, but a lower rank.

‘It doesn’t make sense, no matter how I think about it.’

The impression I got from the grade and the rank was, the grade was an indicator that considered the potential and the possibility of growth. The rank was the order of the current skill level.

Then, I had one question left.

The debut was decided by the rank, so what was the point of getting a high grade?

It was the ‘exposure’ that the contestants of the competition program couldn’t miss.

They said that the trainee profiles on the My Idol Stage website were posted according to the grades.

The cameras followed the A-grade trainees around, giving them access to luxurious facilities. Even their sleeping quarters seemed to be different.

The choreographer in his thirties had used a super pass to put me in the A-grade, meaning that he wanted me to make a good impression and build a strong image in the beginning.

‘If I appeal to the fans with a higher proportion and a cool appearance than others in the early stages, it will be a big help in the later stages.’

I was grateful for his consideration, but at the same time, I wasn’t thankful at all.

Because my goal was not to debut.

I felt bitter for a moment and bit the tip of my lip, when Hwijin came out of the studio.

He looked calm enough, but I was sure he was trembling inside because of his timid personality.

Hwijin, who had finished shooting, stood blankly in front of the waiting room, then came to his senses and squeezed himself into the corner of the room again.

‘Is that his preference… or is it intentional?’

I found it amusing to see him tucked away in the corner with his handsome face and large build. It was one of the few scenes that made me laugh after the audition.

Soon, a staff member came and told him that he shouldn’t be in such an inconspicuous as a high-grade participant. They dragged Hwijin to a relatively front seat.

As I watched Hwijin’s timid attitude without exchanging a word with Yu-geon, it was finally my turn after two long hours.

“I’ll be back soon.”

I saw Yu-geon nod briefly and headed to the designated studio with quick steps.